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North Carolina explores Hyperloop One system to connect the Triangle
North Carolina may be a future destination for a Hyperloop One transit system. The company and several transit partners are exploring a hyperloop that could link Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and the RDU International Airport, near the Research Triangle Park. A pre-feasibility study suggested that traveling between Raleigh and Durham or Chapel Hill (a distance of around 30 miles) could take less than ten minutes, while hyperloop corridors in the region may ease traffic.
Virgin Hyperloop One recruits former MTA chief as CEO
Virgin Hyperloop One's mission to redefine transport is, once again, going to be led by new people as the company announces a new chairman and CEO. Replacing Sir Richard Branson as head of the board is his Excellency Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the head of DP World. The outgoing CEO Rob Lloyd, meanwhile, is being succeeded by transportation veteran Jay Walder (pictured), former head of the MTA.
Richard Branson steps down as Virgin Hyperloop One chairman
Richard Branson is stepping down as chairman of Virgin Hyperloop One. He confirmed the decision to Reuters, claiming that the company needs a more heavily involved leader on its mission to build a fully functional hyperloop transportation system.
Hyperloop One says Missouri route is economically viable
Virgin Hyperloop One has announced the results of a feasibility study on a planned route connecting Kansas City, Columbia and St. Louis. The study, which has yet to be published in full, purports that the route between the three cities is commercially viable. Researchers at Black & Veatch examined the engineering, viability and economic challenges of a proposed line running parallel to I-70.
Hyperloop One and DP World launch a cargo-only shipping business
Virgin Hyperloop One and DP World have announced the launch of a new company that will push the technology into the cargo industry. DP World Cargospeed is a new project that will see the pair look to build Hyperloop-enabled cargo systems to transport "palletized cargo." It's not much of a departure from what Hyperloop One has always said it would do, but the new company will be responsible for making it work.
India inches ahead in the race to build a Hyperloop
Plenty of places have committed to exploring the economic viability of building a Hyperloop, but nobody has been brave enough to say they'll actually construct one. It's why the news coming out of India's latest announcement is such a big deal, because it includes a pledge to build a working test track.
Missouri wants to bring Hyperloop to the midwest
The state of Missouri has signed a deal with Virgin Hyperloop One to investigate if it's worth building a high-speed link between three of its biggest cities. A team of interested parties will examine the feasibility of constructing a route between Kansas City, Columbia and St Louis, parallel to I-70. That will include looking at the engineering challenges, as well as the potential economic benefits of such a route.
Touring Hyperloop One's ever-evolving test site
Virgin Hyperloop One, a company that's developing a new way of moving people around the world, has precedent when it comes to missing deadlines. The company pledged to test a fully working Hyperloop by the end of 2016, but its first test didn't take place until Aug. 2017. The future doesn't conform to timetables, and we can forgive plenty, but it's still with trepidation that the company sets its next ambitious goal. It intends to have a full-size, passenger-ready Hyperloop in operation by 2021. After touring the transport company's DevLoop site in Clark County, Nevada, it's clear the challenges now aren't technical but political.
A closer look at the Hyperloop One test pod
Here at CES, Virgin Hyperloop One is showing off a new partnership with mapping company Here, and we sat down with the company's Matt Jones to explore it further. He, alongside Dr. Anita Sengupta, talked us through the app in greater detail, but there was an additional surprise in store. The company has dragged its XP-1 test pod from the Nevada desert to the show in order to let the public gaze upon it for the first time.
Hyperloop One and Here made an app for imaginary Hyperloops
Virgin Hyperloop One has teamed up with mapping company Here to build an app that lets you pretend that Hyperloops are real. The app is designed to be your transportation portal in a future where vacuum tubes are connecting all of our major cities as one. Imagine a version of Citymapper that let you choose between cars, planes, trains or Hyperloops as you jump between, for instance, Las Vegas and LA.
Richard Branson is Virgin Hyperloop One’s new chairman (updated)
Earlier this month, Virgin Hyperloop One co-founder Shervin Pishevar took a leave of absence from the company and his venture capital firm Sherpa Capital following allegations of sexual harassment and a November arrest for rape that didn't result in a charge. Now, Axios reports that Hyperloop One has a new chairman -- Richard Branson.
Richard Branson and Virgin join forces with Hyperloop One
Today, the Virgin Group has announced that it has invested in Hyperloop One, the startup that recently demonstrated a working prototype of the travel system. As well as cash, and the involvement of Sir Richard Branson, the company will re-brand as Virgin Hyperloop One in the near future. In a statement, Branson described the technology as the "world's most revolutionary train service."
A hyperloop route may zip between Kansas City and St. Louis
The earliest hyperloop routes might not be limited to wealthy tech havens like California or the UAE. Missouri officials and Hyperloop One are seriously exploring the possibility of a hyperloop route that would run between Kansas City and St. Louis. In theory, the pod-based system would shuttle you between the cities in under half an hour, instead of the nearly 4 hours it takes by car -- you could commute from one end of the state to the other for work.
Hyperloop One is closer to deciding its first planned route
One of the ways that Hyperloop One is working out which routes it wants to build is through its "Global Challenge" program. It is, essentially, an X-Factor style competition in which candidate cities and states can audition for the prize of getting to buy their own high-speed travel systems. Now, the company has announced which regions are in the running to be the first to get their own Hyperloop route.
Bloomberg: Elon Musk is building his own Hyperloop
Elon Musk may have dreamt up the Hyperloop, but the bulk of its development has been carried out by others. When he unveiled the white paper in 2013, the South African billionaire said that his vision was "open sourced," and it would be for other startups to build it out. Now, however, sources close to Musk say that he will now build his own Hyperloop, starting with the New York to Washington D.C. route.
Hyperloop One's passenger pod takes its first ride
Just weeks after Hyperloop One demonstrated a working, albeit slow, version of its levitating sled, the company has made another leap forward. This time around, the startup has successfully tested its XP-1 passenger pod, reaching speeds of up to 192 mph and levitating off the track as it accelerated.
Elon Musk says he has approval to build NYC-to-DC Hyperloop
Elon Musk's latest venture, The Boring Company, has certainly been a source of amusement. Now, the billionaire visionary has tweeted that he's received verbal government approval to build an New York-Philadelphia-Baltimore-DC Hyperloop, which will get you from New York to Washington, DC, in 29 minutes. It currently takes approximately two and a half hours to travel between the two cities on Amtrak's Acela Express.
Hyperloop One claims its first successful test run
The potential of Hyperloop is an easy sell, but until now we haven't seen Hyperloop One's proposed mag-lev transit system in action. The company has announced that on May 12th it completed its first full-scale test. The sled hit 70 MPH, in a vacuum, at the company's Nevada testing facility, according to The Verge. No, it's nowhere near the ultimate 750 MPH goal, but like the SpaceX project and its myriad test launches, this represents an important milestone along the path toward rapid travel. Next up? Getting the newly designed aluminum-and-carbon-fiber pods to 250 MPH. Baby steps.
Hyperloop One reveals its plans for connecting Europe
One of Hyperloop One's smartest ideas was the Global Challenge, a "competition" where cities could pitch for the honor of hosting a Hyperloop. From the suggestions, the company then produced a shortlist of routes that were both technically feasible and economically viable. We've already seen the candidate cities in the US, and now the company has revealed its thinking for Hyperloop corridors across Europe.
Hyperloop One's test route is ready to run
It was August 2013 that Elon Musk, under pressure from Shervin Pishevar, published his white paper on the Hyperloop. Just three years and seven months later, and the world's first Hyperloop tube has been declared ready for testing. Hyperloop One has announced that DevLoop, its Nevada test facility, has been "finalized," and will serve as the testbed for the future of transportation.